Comp Sci - Looking for competitive, but not Ivy

College Search & Selection
1

I am hoping to study Computer Science and am trying to apply to a good mix of schools. In my ideal world it would be a nice spectrum from true safety up to a long shot dream school (MIT).

I did a ChanceMe thread with more details (sorry I’m new idk if you’re allowed to link stuff) http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2034816-chanceme-ut-austin-rice-reaches-mit-et-al-p1.html?new=1

The key points are basically:

GPA: 4.14W 3.3 UW

SAT: 1540 (800 math, 740 English)

SAT Subj: 750 Math 2, 770 Physics

AP’s: 13

EC’s:
-Eagle Scout
-Varsity Golf 2yr
-Volunteering to feed homeless 500+ hr, also fundraised and payed for service trip to Guatemala to build a nursing home and teach English

Awards:
-Congressional Award Golf Medal

Jobs:
-Android Developer
-Summer Camp Counselor
-Intern @ biotech co.

I have already applied to (kinda in order of difficulty):
-MIT (my dream school, but I know it is a total reach)
-UT Austin
-RPI
-Colorado Mines
-Toronto
-Wisconsin Madison
-Minnesota Twin Cities

I am pretty sure I will apply to:
-Rice (double legacy and I really love it)
-GA tech
-UC: Berkeley, LA, SD - almost done and about to apply

If I have extra time, I think it would be fun to apply to some ivies as a reach (a kid can imagine right?). Right now that would mean Staford, Harvard, Yale, Chicago. The idea here would be that I am just throwing it out there because if I somehow get-in, well hey thats pretty sweet. And I would say I already have a fairly diverse smattering of safeties/on target schools.

What other Comp Sci school’s would y’all recommend? I am sort of looking for schools more competitive than random state schools, but below HYPMS. To sort of give an idea, things kinda near the Rice/GA tech/Berkeley.

Hope I was coherent and thank you guys so much in advance!!

2

Some options, including some state schools, but with competitive and known CS:

University of Washington
University of Michigan
Waterloo
Northeastern
WPI (good safety option)
RIT (another good safety option)

I would highly second GT and Rice.

3

add USC- U of Southern Calif, not South Carolina

4

@PengsPhils Not sure about the 3.3 GPA for GTech???

5

I think of Carnegie Mellon as a high-powered CS school with plenty of merit and need dollars to hand out, and admissions that are a couple of notches below MIT in selectivity. You ought to check it out.

6

For CS , I think Carnegie’s admissions are actually harder than MIT. If you’re looking for top CS, i’d Throw an app at CMU before the Ivies. Our #2 last year is attending MIT this year for CS after being rejected by his top pick, CMU.

7

If your looking for a quality Comp Sci safety you might add UT Dallas, since you’ve already applied to UT Austin and they both use Apply Texas it would be a very easy app for you. You’d likely score very good merit money too.

8

Be careful about Toronto. Students are not directly admitted to the major. You have to compete based on your first year grades for the major.

Waterloo is a great choice. There, you are admitted directly to the major, along with a lot of other brilliant students. There is a harsh grading curve centered around a C. Students get great coops.

9

Thank y’all for all the great info!

I have been uneasy about CMU because you cannot change majors. My experience with their school also included a frankly rude counselor (this was really odd, I have not experienced this anywhere else). I know it is an incredible CS program though, would it still make sense to apply?

@bouders Thanks for the heads-up on Toronto.

@3scoutsmom Dallas is my true fallback. Its deadline is way later so I sorta am waiting for if I get in anywhere else first. They usually give kids from my school full-rides so I am considering it for the $ reasons. They also have an honors program I have looked at, but I should do more research.

@gearmom from my school the average accepted student to GA tech has a 4.17 GPA and 1475 SAT. This does not take into account if CS is more competitive, but it doesn’t seem unrealistic in the least.

Note about how my school’s grading system works. 93 average = 3.3 unweighted. Getting an A in the class does not mean you get a 4. I don’t know if this clarifies anything, but seems like every school does things differently.

10

In addition to those named above, U of Maryland-College Park and U of Rochester. I also fear the GPA may be an issue, if the college does not take the time to read your HS’s profile to understand your GPA in context of your classmates.

11

Yup, my grades are definitely my big weakness, not sure what I can really do at this point besides just keep working on essays.

12

Unlikely for GTech. UW GPA too low. GPA is more important than SAT/ACT scores for GTech. ECs will be the clincher.
https://www.irp.gatech.edu/common-data-set

13

@androidtexan of the schools that you have applied to, which ones are your safeties? Are you sure that you can afford them as well as that you will be accepted?

14

@androidtexan if you are looking for money, I wouldn’t hold off applying, UTD has a limited amount of AES money and you have much better chance the earlier you apply. They have already released the AES awards for students that were accepted by OCT. 1st. Might be worth it to have to have a financial safety in hand.

15

@i012575 Their avg GPA is 4.03, which is below my 4.14, I’m not totally sure what is meant?

@3scoutsmom That is really good to know. I am now adding UTD to my list to apply to ASAP after the UC system. That sounds like a good Idea, I am kicking myself for not doing it earlier then, since I already submitted the UT app for Austin

16

Another clarification: I do care about money of course, but my family is in the 200k+ bracket, and we have talked about how to afford an OOS school.

I can’t say thank you enough. I am amazed at how insightful the community is everywhere I look for applying to college

17

I’m not sure about changing majors at CMU - my son’s friend is a freshman bio major after being rejected for biomedical engineering. He is planning on trying to get into engineering again- and was told he can do so. He’s a recruited athlete so maybe special circumstances.

18

If a 93 is a 3.3 for you, you may have a higher unweighted average at colleges where you enter your grades into the application and the application recomputes your GPA.

How are you entering your grades for those? (For example the UC system and MIT. I haven’t seen the applications for many on your list, so there may be others.)

Use https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ to calculate the GPAs that the UC system looks at. But, they only use A, B, C, etc grades (no + or - and no percents). Are 90-93 an A or a B for you?

19

@androidtexan With regard to money, our family has decided it is best to pay as little as possible for undergrad and and have funds available for grad school. My DS is an auto admit to UT Austin but has decided UTD will be better for him for undergrad ($$$ vs free) but everyone’s situation is different.

When you have all your acceptances in hand, look very carefully over the financial packages for each school. Some schools may include loans where others do not. Remember in comp sci it’s not really about where you go but what you do while you are there!

20

@NJWrestlingmom Good to know about Carnegie, I should probably go and check on that a second time. All honesty I got rid of it because of the rude counselor XD. I know its a good school and should maybe give 2nd chance

@Ynotgo I entered grades for UC & MIT, the rest are either common app (where I haven’t entered my grades, but I think there is a way to do so… Should I?) or separate apps that don’t ask for grades. For all schools they are sent my transcripts from my HS. Thx for the link

@3scoutsmom Seems smart, I am not sure yet if I want to stick it thru to masters/phd yet. Im a little out on the lingo, is DS daughter/son?